Loom harness



Nov. 30, 1965 J. J. KAUFMANN LOOM HARNESS Filed Jan. 30, 1964 INVENTOR. JOHN J. KAUFMAN/V ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,220,441 LOOM HARNESS John J. Kaufmann, Jenkintown, Pa., assignor to Steel Heddle Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 341,229 9 Claims. (Cl. 13992) This invention relates to loom harness and more particularly to loom harness having heddles with end mortises or eyes of C-shape and with side openings for free movement end to end throughout the entire length of the heddle supporting rods.

Such heddles are particularly useful in those installations in which the warp eyes are inserted in the warp eyes of the heddles by automatic drawing-in machines but are also used for other purposes in weaving.

Various cross sections of heddle supporting rods have been employed with these heddles, the most common of which are rectangular in cross section. Typical examples are shown in my prior patents, Nos. 2,386,690 and 2,560,512.

In my prior Patent No. 2,047,512, a heddle rod of C-shape is shown.

In my prior Patent No. 2,619,991, a heddle rod is shown in which the heddle rods are flat on one vertical face thereof but are provided with a central longitudinal recess on the other face whereby the rods have a central web of approximately one half the thickness of the top and bottom portions of the heddle rods.

The various forms of heddle rods heretofore available have limitations in use. The heddle supporting rods in my prior patents, Nos. 2,047,512 and 2,619,991, had increased stiffness but did not, unless they were made unduly heavy, have adequate locations for riveting for the attachment of intermediate supports for the heddle rods.

While in some instances it is possible to weld supporting elements to the heddle supporting rods this may increase the cost or have other disadvantages. The heddle rods of rectangular cross section, if made of sufficient thickness, tend to be unduly heavy. The heddle rods in my prior Patent No. 2,619,991 have the apertures for the spring latches at the thinnest and weakest part of the heddle supporting rod.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide, in a heddle frame, an improved form of heddle supporting rod which is particularly adaptable to loom harness wherein complete freedom of movement of the heddles on the supporting rods from end to end is necessary.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide, in connection with heddle supporting rods, improved means for supporting the heddle rods intermediate their ends which permit the rods to be disconnected at one end of the frame for removing and adding heddles.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide, in a heddle frame, improved heddle supporting rods with increased stiffening and with the stiffening provided at a location to which a connection is to be made by riveting.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide, in a heddle frame, an improved heddle supporting rod which has greater rigidity for the amount of material employed and which has an improved location for riveting connections or for apertures.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims.

The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, in which:

Patented Nov. 30, 1965 "ice FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a heddle frame embodying the main features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view, enlarged, taken approximately on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view, enlarged, taken approximately on the line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of one of the heddle rods and a support intermediate the ends thereof.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications and changes can be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, as there shown the frame proper may be of ordinary construction comprising top and bottom rails 10, connected by end struts 11 joined to the ends of the top and bottom rails 10 in the usual manner.

The heddle rods 12 are mounted at their ends in slots or recesses 13 in the end struts 11, and are normally maintained therein by spring latches 14, which may be of any preferred form such, for example, as are shown in my prior Patent No. 2,560,512.

The heddle rods 12 of the present invention are, however, of a peculiar conformation, the same being preferably flat on one vertical face 12a thereof between the upper and lower edges 12b but provided with a central longitudinal rib 15 on the other face thereof of a thickness substantially the same as that of the remaining portions of the heddle rods 12, and of a vertical dimension of the order of one-fourth or one-fifth of the height of the rods 12.

The heddles 16 which are preferably used in connection with the structure of the present invention are of the type shown in my prior Letters Patent No. 2,047,511, dated July 14, 1936, and No. 2,386,690, dated October 9, 1945, with mortises or end eyes 17 of C-shape with a slot 18 at the side of each eye 17 and with warp eyes 19, although other types of heddles may be used in connection therewith, if desired.

The preferred means for supporting the heddle rods intermediate the ends are as shown in my prior patents, Nos. 2,386,690 and 2,560,512, with each of the heddle rods 12 being provided with a plate member 20 which is secured to the rod 12 by means of rivets 21 with a spacer 22 interposed between the heddle rod 12 and the plate member 20 to provide a clearance for the slotted sides of the end eyes 17 of the heddles 16 for free end to end movement of the heddles 16 on the rods 12. The holes 23 for the heads 25 of the rivets 21 are formed in the portion of the rod 12 which is thickened by the presence of the longitudinal rib 15.

The plate members 20 can each be provided with a longitudinal slot 27 near the edge thereof and with a tongue portion 28 which extends from one of the end margins of the plate member 20 and is bent around and disposed parallel to the body portion of the plate member 20.

A bolt member 29 can be provided having a flattened head portion 30 with its end bent around as at 31 to extend within the slot 27, the thickness of the head portion 30 permitting the same to be engaged between the tongue portion 28 and body of the plate member 20 to retain the bolt member 29 engaged with the plate member 20.

The bolt member 29 can also be adjustably mounted at its outer end, such as by an internally threaded sleeve 32 engaged with a complementally threaded end portion 34 of the bolt member 29. The sleeve 32 is shown as having a flange 35 clamped between clamping plate members 36 and 37 and secured by screws 38.

The adjustable mounting for the intermediate support for the heddle rod 12 is shown merely by way of example.

The ends of the heddle rods 12 can be held in any desired maner, one suitable retaining structure being shown as spring latches 14 each pivotally secured to the side struts 11 by a rivet 40 and with a T-shaped tongue 41 engageable in a T-shaped aperture having a wide portion 42 and a narrow portion 43 as shown in my prior Patent No. 2,560,512, the apertures 42, 43, being in intersecting relation to the rib 15, rather than at a weaker portion of the heddle rod 12.

The manner of use of the heddle frames constructed, and arranged as herein described will be readily understood, heddles being added to or removed from the heddle supporting rods by freeing the ends of the heddle rods 12 to permit the endwise sliding for access thereto.

I claim:

1. In loom harness including a heddle frame having top and bottom rails, end struts connecting the ends of said top and bottom rails, heddle rods removably mounted in the frame, means for detachably securing the ends of the heddle rods, and means for supporting the heddle rods at locations intermediate the ends thereof, said heddle rods being flat on one vertical face thereof but having on the other face thereof a solid integral flat thickened portion intermediate top and bottom edges thereof to provide a longitudinal stiffening rib on said other face.

2. Loom harness as defined in claim 1 in which the means for supporting the heddle rods intermediate: to the ends thereof is connected to the heddle rods at said rib.

3. Loom harness as defined in claim 1 in which the means for detachably securing the ends of the heddle rods has a portion in intersecting relation to said rib.

4. In loom harness including a heddle frame having top and bottom rails, end struts connecting the ends of said top and bottom rails, heddle rods removably mountedin the frame, means for detachably securing the ends of the heddle rods, and means for supporting the heddle rods at locations intermediate the ends thereof, said heddle rods being flat on one vertical face thereof but having a central longitudinal stiffening rib portion onthe other face thereof, and the means for supporting the heddle rods intermediate the ends thereof comprising the provision, at each location, of a member supported from the rail having portions extending along the heddle rod, and locking means carried by said member having portions extending through the rip portion of the heddle rod.

5. In ,loom harness including a heddle frame having top and bottom rails, end struts connecting the ends of said top and bottom rails, heddle rods removably mounted in the frame, means for detachably securing the ends of the heddle rods, and means for supporting the heddle rods at locations intermediate the ends thereof, said heddle rods each having a central longitudinal stiffening rib portion on at least one face thereof, and the means for supporting the heddle rods intermediate the ends thereof comprising the provision, at each location, of a 4 plate member supported from the rail, said plate member having portions extending along the heddle rod, and holding means carried by said plate member having portions adapted to pass through apertures in the rib portion to lock the rod to the plate member.

6. In loom harness including a heddle frame having top and bottom rails, end struts connecting the ends of said top and bottom rails, heddle rods removably mounted in the frame, means for detachably securing the ends of the heddle rods, and means for supporting the heddle rods at locations intermediate the ends thereof, said heddle rods having a central longitudinal stiffening rib portion on at least one face thereof, and the means for supporting the heddle rods intermediate the ends thereof comprising the provision, at each location, of a plate member supported from the rail, said plate member having portions extending along the heddle rod, and locking means carriedby said plate member having portions adapted to pass through apertures in the heddle rod at the rib to lock the rod to the plate member.

'7. In loom harness including a heddle frame having top and bottom rails, end struts connecting the ends of said top and bottom rails, heddle rods removably mounted in the frame, means for detachably securing the ends of the heddle rods, and means for supporting the heddle rods at locations intermediate the ends thereof, said heddle rods having a central longitudinal stiffening rib portion on at least one face thereof, and means for supporting the heddle rods intermediate the ends thereof comprising the provision, at each location, of apertures in the heddle rod intersecting the rib portion, a plate member supported from the rail, said plate member having portions extending along one face of the heddle rod, a spacer member between said plate and said rod along said rib portion, and holding members carried by said plate member having portions adapted to pass through said spacer member and the apertures in the heddle rod.

8. In loom harness, heddle rods for supporting the heddles having one vertical face thereof flat but having on the other face thereof a solid integral thickness stiffening portion therealong spaced inwardly of the top and bottom edges of the rods to provide a rib on said other face.

9. In loom harness, heddle rods for suporting the heddles having one vertical face thereof flat but having on the other face thereof a solid integral thickened stiffening portion therealong intermediate the top and bottom edges of the rods to provide an intermediately positioned longitudinal rib.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,623,547 12/1952 Galaher 139-92 2,625,958 l/ 1953 Kaufmann 13992 2,769,461 11/1956 Kaufmann 139-92 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,027 9/ 1896 Switzerland. 

1. IN LOOM HARNESS INCLUDING A HEDDLE FRAME HAVING TOP AND BOTTOM RAILS, END STRUTS CONNECTING THE ENDS OF SAID TOP AND BOTTOMN RAILS, HEDDLE RODS REMOVABLY MOUNTED IN THE FRAME, MEANS FOR DETACHABLY SECURING THE ENDS OF THE HEDDLE RODS, AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE HEDDLE RODS AT LOCATIONS INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF, SAID HEDDLE RODS BEING FLAT ON ONE VERTICAL FACE THEREOF BUT HAVING ON THE OTHER FACE THEREOF A SOLID INTEGRAL FLAT THICKENED PORTION INTERMEDIATE TOP AND BOTTOM EDGES THEREOF TO PROVIDE A LONGITUDINAL STIFFENING RIB ON SAID OTHER FACE. 